The role of an enforcer may be a dying breed in the NHL, but Matt Rempe is doing all he can to keep it alive.
The Rangers' 21-year-old rookie made his debut in the league just over two months ago, but he already is making a name for himself. Rempe wasted no time in establishing himself as one of the heavyweights in the NHL, willing to take on any and all contenders in a fight.
The 6-7 monster that patrols the fourth line for the Presidents' Trophy winners knows his role, and does it well ... for the most part. There are adjustments that Rempe certainly needs to make to his game, including controlling his body more to decrease the amount of dangerous hits he throws.
But if you're a fan of old-school, hard-nosed hockey, then Rempe is your guy. He's a candidate to drop the gloves every night and never shies away from finishing a check.
He hasn't thrown the mitts away yet in the 2024 NHL playoffs, but the deeper the Rangers go, the higher the chance that Rempe records his first playoff fight.
Here is a look at every time Rempe has fought so far in his NHL career.
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Matt Rempe fight timeline
Matt Rempe vs. Matt Martin
Making your NHL debut during an outdoors game is cool enough as is. But how about dropping the gloves at center ice in your first NHL game?
If Rangers fans weren't familiar with Rempe before the 2024 Stadium Series, he made sure they knew who he was after. Rempe needed just one second of ice time before dropping the mitts for his first NHL fight.
Right after a goal by New York defenseman Eric Gustafsson gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead 88 seconds into the game, Rempe electrified the crowd even further by dropping the gloves with Islanders veteran Matt Martin on the ensuing faceoff.
Matt Rempe vs. Nicolas Deslauriers
Three games after his NHL debut, Rempe got into another donnybrook again. After starting off on expert mode with Martin, Rempe did not take a step down in weight class, challenging Flyers forward Nicolas Deslauriers to a scrap.
The fight did not disappoint. The two went toe-to-toe for almost a minute, eating and firing blows back and forth in one of the best scraps of the season.
Matt Rempe vs. Mathieu Olivier
After going to a draw with Deslauriers, fans were anxious to see who Rempe would square up with next. It did not take long to find out, as the rookie got into a fight the very next night, challenging Blue Jackets winger Mathieu Olivier to a bout.
Rempe may have bit off more than he could chew by taking his second fight in just as many games. To put it lightly, Olivier handed Rempe a beating, delivering blow after blow to Rempe's face in the one-sided battle.
The fight with Olivier left Rempe a nice black eye the next day.
Back at it today for #NYR practice, where Matt Rempe is sporting a nice black eye. Lots of additional media here today to see the big man. pic.twitter.com/xxxuylQZx5
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) February 27, 2024
Matt Rempe vs. Ryan Reaves
With Rempe taking three fights in less than a two-week span, it had many wondering how much longer the kid could hold up.
Well, it didn't take long for Rempe to find himself mitts-less again. A week after the Olivier beatdown, the Rangers forward went for one of the league's best in the fighting department — Ryan Reaves. It took until the third period, but Rempe finally got the nod from Rangers coach Peter Laviolette to have a round with Raves.
The Maple Leafs forward gladly obliged to Rempe's offer. The two went back-and-forth for about 45 seconds, with both combatants getting licks in.
Matt Rempe vs. Kurtis MacDermid
After going more than a month without a fight, Rempe got back into the invisible ring against the Devils in a fight many anticipated to happen.
In a February 22 contest, Rempe was ejected after delivering a high hit to Devils defenseman Nathan Bastian. While New Jersey blue liner Jonas Siegenthaler took exception to the hit, no fight occurred.
Then, on March 11, Rempe was involved with another dangerous hit against the Devils. For the second time against New Jersey, the Rangers rookie was ejected after elbowing Siegenthaler in the head, infuriating the Devils again.
Rempe was suspended four games for the dangerous hit on Siegenthaler.
So when the cross-river rivals met again on April 3, both fan bases expected there to be an answer for Rempe's actions. What fans likely did not predict was an all-out brawl just seconds into the contest.
Five different fights broke out just two seconds into the Rangers-Devils game at Madison Square Garden. Rempe went toe-to-toe with Devils defenseman Kurtis MacDermind, who previously tried to get the Rangers forward to fight in the contest prior, but Rempe declined.
It was a tough scrap, but ultimately MacDermid got the best of Rempe. The pair were two of the eight players to be kicked out of the game just seconds into the contest.
